The Baby Sprout Who Bloomed in the Villain Duke’s Family
Chapter 13
If there was something she could do, she wanted to do it.
It had always been that way, and she wanted it to remain that way.
Clover dipped both hands into the clear water. Perhaps because the sun had set, the water was icy cold.
Yet it was so clear that beneath the moonlight and Lucky’s glow, the entire interior of the fountain was completely visible.
Clover was perched at the very highest point of the two-tiered fountain.
If she fell from here, she would get hurt.
Just thinking about it made her heart pound wildly. To a four-year-old child, a height like this was practically the top of a five-story building.
Yet beating even louder than her fear was the conviction that she could do something with her own two hands.
<You’re the only one who can take it out.>
The cat spoke firmly, driving the point home.
“Daddy can’t?”
<He has the protection of the storm, so he cannot. The others are the same.>
Only you. Only you can do it, Clover.
Clover recalled how desperately Daddy had searched for the treasure for her sake.
How happy would he be if Clover found it and brought it to him? At that thought, neither the high fountain nor the pitch-black night frightened her in the least.
And right then.
Glint.
Something sparkled inside the fountain. It shone just as brightly as Lucky. Amidst the flowing water, that alone stood out with crystal clarity.
As if it were calling out to Clover.
As if entranced, Clover reached her hand toward it.
Splash.
Her tiny hand plunged into the water once more. Then, the sparkling object was caught in her grasp. Clover slowly and carefully pulled it out.
It was a ring.
The most beautiful ring in the world, set with a radiant jewel.
The ring’s brilliant, magnificent form was reflected like a water shadow in Clover’s round eyes.
“Found it…….”
Clover murmured blankly, clutching the ring in her hand.
“I really foun’ it, the Treasure of Claudian.”
Even without anyone telling her, she could tell. The “treasure” the Lion of the North Wind had spoken of was this very ring.
It was the most beautiful, most dazzling thing Clover had ever seen in her life.
She had thought Lucky’s light was second to none, but beside this ring, Lucky’s golden glow looked faded and weak by comparison.
[Is this the……]
Yet before Lucky could even finish speaking—
Rumble, crash!
Pitch-black rain clouds gathered right above Clover where she sat atop the fountain.
<Huh……?>
Immediately, rain began to pour down and gale-force winds blew in. Startled, Lucky and the cat leaped closer to Clover’s side.
“Lucky, this…….”
Just as a flustered Clover clutched the ring tightly in both hands and looked at Lucky—
Rumble, CRASH!
Lightning flashed across the sky, and a tempest violent enough to blow people away and uproot trees whipped up in an instant.
It was the power of the storm.
The ring was a treasure that neutralized storms, so why was the power of the storm raging? Before Clover, Lucky, and the Lion of the North Wind could even finish the thought—
[Clover!]
<Child, look out!>
Lucky and the Lion of the North Wind cried out at the same time like a scream.
Yet where Clover sat was the fountain’s second tier.
And Clover was a young child who could not climb down from there on her own.
So where was she supposed to escape to?
“Lu-Lucky.”
Rumble.
Crash!
***
In the middle of the garden, the Authority of the Storm erupted.
Startled awake from their sleep, the servants of Claudian all came rushing out into the garden.
Khalid, Demian, and Arwin were no exception.
Those capable of wielding the Authority of the Storm were only four: Khalid, Sone, Demian, and Arwin.
Among them, only Khalid and Sone could wield the Authority in full like this.
Yet why had the Authority suddenly exploded in the center of the garden? Out of nowhere, at that?
“Has Sone returned?”
“No, the Young Head has not yet returned.”
“Then what on earth—!”
A panicked Khalid ran straight out into the garden. The servants of Claudian followed behind him in a swarm.
And what they saw was—
“What in the world…….”
The Fountain of Claudian, said to have been made by the First Head of the Family for her beloved husband.
The grand fountain—the symbol of this mansion and the pride of the family—was completely wrecked, caught in the wake of the Authority of the Storm.
And.
“……Clover?”
Clover, covered in dirt, gazing blankly at Khalid from beside the ruins.
“O-Oh my.”
“Young Miss……!”
The flustered servants spotted Clover and hesitated as they stepped closer.
Khalid approached, staring blankly at Clover.
Did Clover unleash the Authority of the Storm?
That couldn’t be. Clover had no such power—Khalid Claudian knew that better than anyone.
Then what in the world was that Authority just now?
Khalid looked at his tiny daughter with bewildered eyes. Veiled in Khalid’s shadow, Clover looked even smaller. Moreover, she was covered in scrapes and bruises, as if she had truly been caught in the Authority of the Storm.
Seeing Khalid, the dirt-covered Clover broke into tears, streams of them rolling down her face.
“……!”
“D-Daddy.”
Clover struggled to hold back her tears as she crawled on all fours toward Khalid.
“Daddy, I’m sowwy, I’m sorry.”
“Clover.”
“H-Hic, I’m sorry Clover made a m-mess, I was bad, I was wrong……”
Rain fell in steady sheets from the dark rain clouds that still had not dispersed. The rainwater soaked Clover’s tiny face.
Mud, rainwater, and tears mingled together, streaming ceaselessly down Clover’s round cheeks.
“I…… I wanted to help. I jus’……”
Unable to crawl more than a few steps, Clover collapsed and burst into loud, wailing sobs right there.
“I’m sorry, I was bad, I did wrong. Hic, Da-addy…….”
She had just wanted to help Khalid.
Because Khalid was doing his best so Clover could stay in Claudian.
She had wanted to help him find the treasure and remain here. It was simply that.
Had she known it would bring about such a catastrophe, she never would have done it.
Wrecking the fountain, waking everyone from their sleep…
……Had she known she would do something so hateful.
Just because of this ring, she might be hated by the Daddy she had finally met. The terror born from that thought crawled over Clover’s body like ants.
Clover could only weep helplessly, tears streaming down her face.
“No, Clover. You didn’t do anything wrong. Are you hurt? Come here, let me see.”
Khalid carefully reached out toward the terrified child. Trembling all over, the little girl kept crying and crying, as though she would shed as many tears as the pouring rain.
“I was bad, please just don’t send me back to Demper…….”
“I will not send you back. Little one, let me see where you’re hurt.”
“D-Daddy…….”
Crying as if she were about to lose her breath from terror, Clover finally lifted her head and met Khalid’s eyes.
“That’s it. Come closer, Clover. Come to Daddy.”
At Khalid’s earnest call, the Lion of the North Wind, who had been cowering behind Clover like a criminal this whole time, lifted its head and looked at its master.
And Clover’s summon, the four-leaf clover Lucky, hovered incessantly around Clover’s tiny hand, glowing as if pointing to something.
Yet Khalid did not spare their actions even a moment’s glance.
The only thing that mattered to him right now was his daughter’s well-being. Nothing else mattered in the least compared to Clover’s safety.
However.
To Clover, there was something far more important than her own well-being. Rubbing away the scrapes and tears on her cheek, Clover reached out to Khalid, her eyes still brimming with tears.
Khalid hurried toward the child as if taking that as permission. Then, he looked down at Clover’s hand.
“……This?”
Something was clutched in Clover’s hand.
Looking closely, it was a ring set with a blue sapphire, its edges densely encrusted with diamonds.
There was no way he wouldn’t recognize it. It was the very ring Khalid had searched for like a madman over the past four years.
Before he even had time to be shocked, Clover placed the ring into Khalid’s hand with her tiny fingers and spoke.
“This, Clover foun’ it.”
“……Clover.”
“S-So…… won’t you please not send me away? Hic, b-because I foun’ this…….”
Clover pleaded, pressing the ring—which had now lost its light and sparkled no longer—into Khalid’s hand.
